The last mimzy

We went to see the last mimzy last night, and it was a really cool movie.

Cool effects, good, believable brother/sister relationship (both kids were great in this, the girl was adorable), and just a neat story that is different enough from other movies that have tackled similar topics.

Interestingly, the movie started off in the future about how people had become too isolated, more in touch with technology than with other people, that they lost their humanity in a way. And this is something I’ve wondered and thought about, you look around you on a bus or a train, everyone is on a cell phone or text messaging, or on their computer or listening to their ipod, in their own world. With online shopping, online groceries (admittedly, I am guilty of both), online banking, movies that you can purchase straight from your tv, etc, it’s becoming a world where you not only don’t have to leave your house, you don’t have to any human interaction at all.

And then I wonder why blogs are so popular these days. It seems like people desperately want a connection with others, want to know they are not alone in things they are facing in their daily lives, glimpsing to see how other people live…but again it is all remote and separate from people in the real world.

While technology can mean great things for people, for the world, it does mean more isolation, and that is a sad road to go down.

Just rambling.

Read Full Post »

Roadtrip!!

So, I have booked a flight to NC in a few weeks, to check out what it is like there, see if it is a place we could comfortably live, check out what it’s like to drive around, trail access for running, all that sort of thing.

I will be there from Tuesday morning through Friday evening, and I’m going without Tim because it would be that much more expensive for both of us to fly out and board myrapup.

But then I was talking to Slunt (my best friend), and she said she would love to go with me. Tim and I talked and said how not only would it be really cool, but it would give us more than just my opinion, I would have more fun, etc. After some back and forthing, and some pleading and cajoling on my end, she will fly down to meet me!

I’ll be there Tuesday and Wednesday by myself, and then will pick her up Wed. night and she flies home Fri morning.

I am SO excited. I haven’t seen her since Christmas, and we’ve both been missing each other. Plus, whenever I go back east, I usually only have one evening to spend with her, so it will be nice to get more time with her. And other than when I traveled in Europe, I’ve never been on a girlfriend road trip, so it just made the trip a lot more fun.

Hooray!!

Read Full Post »

Scattegories!

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things — NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Kelly
Famous Music Artist/Group: Kylie Minogue
3 letter word: kid
Colour: kelly green
Gifts/Presents: kinky lingerie
Vehicle: Kit, from Knight Rider (courtesy Tim)
TV Show: King of Queens
Boy Name: Kyle
Girl Name: Kaylen
Alcoholic Drink: Kamikaze
Occupation: Keymaker
Flower:
Celebrity: Kiera Knightly (ha! 2 in one, and she’s hot!)
Food: kale
Something found in a kitchen: ketchup
Reason for Being Late: kidnapped
Something You Shout: Kiss me!

Erg. K is a tough one!! (Ps, I had some help from Tim, with Tv show and color)

Read Full Post »

On being a drinking lightweight

It’s no surprise that I’ve always been not much into drinking. It affects me really quickly, it makes my stomach bloat out, and it makes me really sleepy.

I started to wonder if I was allergic to alcohol.

And then this weekend when I confirmed that I don’t handle gluten or wheat well at all, well, I really am allergic to alcohol!

There are times when my no-drinking made me feel lame, or not really fitting in, or not joining in on parties and such. I used to feel a little out of place with Tim, especially at first, because he was used to going out to get a drink with friends, and I just never really had any interest in being around alcohol.

I don’t feel that way anymore, and pretty much everyone doesn’t care, it’s just weird how you feel left out and different because you don’t do something that just about everybody else does, even if it is only in your mind.

Read Full Post »

Black and chocolate

We need a chocolate lab, I think…

Read Full Post »

processed sugar, wheat = BAD

I think I have found my food culprits, and it looks like I am a celiac (gluten intolerant) who can’t handle processed sugar.

I had falafel on a white roll yesterday to begin introducing wheat. While my stomach didn’t bloat as quickly as it did after eating ice cream, it did eventually, and it lasted for hours. We had lunch at 2 at Genies, by 8 p.m. my stomach was still bloated.

It finally calmed down, and I decided not to continue my wheat test any further that day, I will try whole wheat stuff on Monday.

We went to New Seasons to get milk and such, and I decided to try another sugar test (previously, dairy was fine, but ice cream, very bad). I found a vegan, spelt chocolate chip cookie, and figured this would be a good test because it wouldn’t have wheat or dairy in it, but it had processed sugar.

OMG. Within five minutes of having a couple bites of the cookie, my stomach bloated to a huge and painful point. It still hurts this morning.

It looks like I will no longer be having processed sugar and will be sticking to baked goods made with maple syrup or honey. Owie. We’ll see what happens with the whole wheat test on monday, but if the white roll is any indication, wheat is out as well. At least there are tons of gluten free products now.

Read Full Post »

Trees!

I love trees, I feel a connection to them. I say hello to trees. I will stop and put my hand on them and say a silent greeting. I will hug trees. In some of the trees around here, I can see faces, especially in the forests, and I instantly make up stories about tree people and fairies and the lives they lead. I will stop and stare at trees that I think are particularly lovely.

So, when I found this, you can imagine how thrilled I was (found via Magpie and Cake and Neatorama.com).

I don’t like the circus trees as much, because it looks like it would have hurt the trees to grow like that (and I’m sure the tree designer didn’t think of that), but the other ones. Just wow. The aspens in Utah that are all one organism is really impressive. The tree in Monterey looks lonely and proud. The mexican Tule Tree. Swoon.

You have probably seen the book, places to see before you die? Well, I’ve looked at it, and I don’t really need to see all the places in there, but I have decided my list of places to see includes meeting all these trees.

Read Full Post »

Happy Spring!

We have officially past the spring equinox and are now legally allowed to say it is spring, even though it has been spring here in Portland for well over a month.

Every time I walk Myra through the neighborhood, there are more flowers blooming, more cherry blossoms and magnolia trees. Daffodils, tulips, happy little purple flowers, trees with new leaves budding, and still more flowers. I make mental paintings every time I’m outside.

I love the energy of spring, I love watching everything come to life, feeling like I want to be outside as much as possible (of course the weather is being a tease, we got a couple of great, warm days, then it went back to being cool or rainy).

It’s also the season of impossibly cute stuffed animals, I’m trying to resist the urge to buy lots of cute chicks and sheep. And of course, Peep Day (otherwise known as Easter) is coming up. I’ve never been much into halloween, I don’t really like halloween candy all that much (other than candy corn), and it just seems like an excuse for adults to get drunk and act stupid in costumes.

Easter on the other hand. I love easter candy. Peeps, jelly beans, the cadbury eggs (although I can only eat those in very small doses). And of course, now that I’m adding food back in, I have made the decision that I really don’t want to add much sugar back in, because I like not having a lot of sugar. We’ll see how good my willpower is — I just don’t want to get re-addicted to sugar, so it’s easier to not have any. Stupid good candy holiday :p

Read Full Post »

wanna see how fast I can run?

Yesterday, I had a great wellness exercise class, we ran to the track and did a lot of sprints. We would sprint the straight away, then do an easy walk or jog on the corners. We would run a few laps at normal pace, then go back to the sprinting.

I felt like I was flying, and like I was back in school, trying to see how fast I can run. (Sidenote, in elementary school, I was the fastest kid in the school for a very little while. I beat out the fastest boy once. It was cool!) I have absolutely gotten faster and stronger, and it was so much fun to just really push it and see how hard I could run.

“Yeah, I run like a girl. Try to keep up!” From one of the best t-shirts I’ve seen in a long time, and I need to find it and buy it.

Read Full Post »

Dairy and tomatoes….

are in!!

I started adding food back on Saturday, adding dairy first. No problems with dairy at all. I even had a really little bit (less than 1/4 cup) of chocolate ice cream, and let me tell you, it tasted HEAVENLY. My stomach got a little bloaty, but that might have been from having sugar for the first in over a month. And even that didn’t last long.

Yesterday, I had rice pasta with tomato sauce and parm cheese, and it was probably the best meal I’ve had in ages, just because it was so normal. Again, no problems from the tomatoes. Today I will have something with salsa for lunch, and then make tomato pesto for dinner (my signature dish, the best pasta sauce ever). I only had tomatoes once yesterday, so I need to have a little bit more to confirm I don’t have problems with it.

But even just adding back in dairy and tomatoes makes a huge difference.

I’m pretty sure I’m not going to add caffeine back in, and I really don’t want to add a lot of sugar back in, but at least some more food options have opened up. Yay!

Read Full Post »